Fort São José de Mossuril (Fortaleza de São José de Mossuril in Portuguese), also spelled Forte de São José de Mussuril, or Mossuril Fort for short (Forte de Mossuril in Portuguese) was a Portuguese military structure once located in the village of Mossuril, in the district of Mossuril, Nampula Province, on the coast of Mozambique.
History The fort had been built over a langoa, name which designated a flat floodplain.Archivo Pittoresco, Volumes 9–10, Tip. de Castro Irmão, 1866, p.236. It was rebuilt in 1718 by captain-general Cavalcanti and in 1758 by order of captain-general Pedro de Saldanha Albuquerque. In 1834, its garrison consisted of a company of caçadores ("hunters") light infantry.José Justino Teixeira Botelho: História militar e política dos Portugueses en Mocambique de 1833 aos nossos dias, Imprensa da Universidade, 1921, p. 35.
In the early nineteenth century, a map was produced of the fort.Matthew H. Edney, Mary Sponberg Pedley: The History of Cartography, Volume 4: Cartography in the European Enlightenment University of Chicago Press, 2020, p. 1478. In the years close to 1834, São José de Mossuril constituted on the twelve parishes of Mozambique, with an estimated Catholic populated of 3541 persons.José Justino Teixeira Botelho: História militar e política dos Portugueses en Mocambique de 1833 aos nossos dias, Imprensa da Universidade, 1921, p. 27.
In 1840 its commander was Major José Antonio Pereira."Relatorio d'alguns accontecimentos notaveis em Cabo-Verde e resposta a..." Relatorio d'alguns accontecimentos notaveis em Cabo-Verde e resposta a differentes accusaçoens feitas contra o Brigadeiro Joaquim Pereira Marinho, offerecido ao Senado Legislativo da nação portugueza. Typographia do Pregoeiro da Liberdade, impresso por P.P. de Souza, 1840, p.101. in Google Books.
This fortification was repaired in 1963.
Its defense was complemented by the Matibane Redoubt.
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